Two Bunbury students recently returned from a trip of a lifetime after trekking through the Olympic National Park in Washington State in the United States. Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School students Giselle Taylor and Hamish Leahy participated in the NatureBridge Alcoa Scholars program from August 5 to 18. The Year 11 and Year 12 students were among 55 other teenagers from across the globe selected to learn more about environmental science through hands-on activities. On the trip Giselle and Hamish completed a seven day hike through the National Park while completing science experiments. Giselle assessed the ideal distance trees thrive at in comparison to their distance from different rivers. “My highlight of the trip was travelling up to a glacier along Anderson’s pass - there was bright blue water with ice floating in the middle of a lake, vast snowfields and flowers too,” she said. “We learnt so much about the different cultures around the world as well as great take-aways, such as how big the impact of just one person can be.” Hamish studied the effect water velocity has on macro invertebrate populations and said he hoped to bring back the ‘leave no trace’ policy to his home and School community. “Everything that we bring into a natural environment, we must also take out,” he said. “Another highlight was the 38 friends I made from many different countries such as Norway, Hungary, Spain, USA, Iceland and Canada.”